Hi all,
My girlfriend and I are finally moving in together and combining our fur families. I have three cats (age 7, 4, and 2) and she has one dog (~20 pounds, cockapoo, 1.5 years). My cats have never been around dogs and her dog has only met cats once when we visited a friend's place, and she army crawled under the bed to try and say hi to them but didn't bark or chase them. We've been reading up on slowly introducing cats and dogs but I just wanted to post here for any personalized advice. Our new place is pretty spacious, five bedrooms, two floors and a basement as well as a fenced backyard. I'm getting there with the cats two weeks earlier than she'll arrive with the dog. Our plan is to have the litter boxes in the basement as well as set up cat trees in the basement bedroom, the basement door already has a cat door so hopefully that can be a safe zone. We're also setting up one of the second floor bedrooms as a cat room with a day bed and wall furniture, and have plans for putting a catio in the living room window, so the cats will have secure dog-free locations. My plan is to introduce the cats to the home before the dog gets there, and then when the dog arrives, we'll keep her confined to certain areas with baby gates and do scent swapping.
I know so much depends on the personalities of the animals, but does anyone have tips for introducing animals when they're both entering a new home? My oldest cat is pretty brave and adaptable but super cranky and dominant, it was a process even introducing him to the two other cats when they were kittens. My middle cat is skittish but unobtrusive, she tends to spend most of her time in her bedroom on her day bed. And the youngest is the baby, he's very curious and playful and bounces back from things quickly, we're hoping he and the dog get along.
Cat and dog pictures -- Finn's the beige, Anya's the white fluff, Jonathan's the tabby, and Junie's the teddy bear.
My girlfriend and I are finally moving in together and combining our fur families. I have three cats (age 7, 4, and 2) and she has one dog (~20 pounds, cockapoo, 1.5 years). My cats have never been around dogs and her dog has only met cats once when we visited a friend's place, and she army crawled under the bed to try and say hi to them but didn't bark or chase them. We've been reading up on slowly introducing cats and dogs but I just wanted to post here for any personalized advice. Our new place is pretty spacious, five bedrooms, two floors and a basement as well as a fenced backyard. I'm getting there with the cats two weeks earlier than she'll arrive with the dog. Our plan is to have the litter boxes in the basement as well as set up cat trees in the basement bedroom, the basement door already has a cat door so hopefully that can be a safe zone. We're also setting up one of the second floor bedrooms as a cat room with a day bed and wall furniture, and have plans for putting a catio in the living room window, so the cats will have secure dog-free locations. My plan is to introduce the cats to the home before the dog gets there, and then when the dog arrives, we'll keep her confined to certain areas with baby gates and do scent swapping.
I know so much depends on the personalities of the animals, but does anyone have tips for introducing animals when they're both entering a new home? My oldest cat is pretty brave and adaptable but super cranky and dominant, it was a process even introducing him to the two other cats when they were kittens. My middle cat is skittish but unobtrusive, she tends to spend most of her time in her bedroom on her day bed. And the youngest is the baby, he's very curious and playful and bounces back from things quickly, we're hoping he and the dog get along.
Cat and dog pictures -- Finn's the beige, Anya's the white fluff, Jonathan's the tabby, and Junie's the teddy bear.
